Civil War and Reconstruction Notes

The Civil War: Key Battles and Turning Points

• The Union aimed to reintegrate Confederate states, not to create a "Confederate Saints of America."
• Early in the war, the South seemed poised for victory.

Gettysburg and Vicksburg: The Tide Turns (July 1863)

• Two pivotal battles occurred in July 1863: Gettysburg, Pennsylvania (North), and Vicksburg, Mississippi (South).
• These battles marked a significant turning point in the Civil War.

Gettysburg

• Robert E. Lee, commander of the Confederate troops, led his forces into Gettysburg, a Northern state.

• This decision was controversial, as many Southerners believed they should not invade the North.

• Lee's rationale was that bringing the war to the Northern population was necessary to force their surrender.

• Outcome: Despite not technically surrendering, Lee was compelled to retreat from Gettysburg under the cover of night due to heavy losses. He recognized that continuing the battle would result in unsustainable casualties for his army.

• The North's advantage in population meant they could replenish their troops more readily than the South. The North had 22,000,000 people, while the South only had 5,500,000. War casualties significantly impacted the ability to maintain troop levels.
  Population_{North} = 22,000,000

  Population_{South} = 5,500,000

• The North also had the ability to draft more men.

Vicksburg

• Vicksburg's strategic location on the Mississippi River allowed the Confederacy to control a crucial section of the waterway.
• Confederate forces in Vicksburg were able to prevent Northern ships from navigating the southern Mississippi River.
• Ulysses S. Grant, a Union general, devised a strategy to bypass Vicksburg, cross the river south of the city, and then circle back to attack it from the rear.
• Outcome: Vicksburg surrendered after being surrounded and cut off from supplies. The Confederate forces ran out of food, guns, and other essential resources.
• The Union's capture of Vicksburg gave them control of the Mississippi River, from Saint Louis to New Orleans. This control was a major strategic advantage.

Significance of Gettysburg and Vicksburg

• These defeats made it clear that the South was unlikely to win the war due to a number of factors, including the loss of manpower and control of the Mississippi River. With control over the Mississippi River, the North controlled a large portion of the South.
  * The Mississippi River goes by Missouri and Vicksburg, then goes down to New Orleans.

Northern Advantages

• The North possessed several key advantages over the South:
  • Larger population: As previously mentioned, the North's population was substantially larger than the South's.
  • Railroads: The North had a more extensive and developed railroad network.
  • Navy: The Union Navy controlled the seas and was able to blockade Southern ports.
  • Manufacturing: The North had a much larger industrial base than the South so the North was able to produce more resources for its troops.
• Though the South had strong military leadership, it was ultimately insufficient to overcome the North's material advantages.
• Southern hopes for British support dwindled as England found alternative sources of Cotton from India.
  • England needed the South's Cotton, however, when the South started The Civil War, England began to get it from India.

Black Participation in the War

• Approximately 80,000 black soldiers served in the Union Army.
• An estimated 200,000 non-military black participants supported the Union efforts. They performed essential tasks such as cooking and repairing railroads.

Challenges and Policies

• As Union forces advanced into the South, they were met by thousands of enslaved people seeking freedom.
• Union generals faced the logistical challenge of providing for these freed people with food, clothing and shelter.
• Port Royal Experiment (1862): Land was distributed to formerly enslaved people, allowing them to grow their own food.
• The legal status of enslaved people who sought refuge with the Union Army was complex. Terms like "runaway slave" and "free" were deemed inappropriate.
  • Union soldiers were instructed to seize contraband (resources that could aid the enemy) during military operations. Enslaved people were initially labeled "contraband".
• General Hunter, a Union general, declared enslaved people free, however, Washington D.C. had to act.
• Congress freed them again.
• Emancipation Proclamation (1863): Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation to provide a moral cause for the Union troops.
  • The Emancipation Proclamation freed slaves and allowed colored troops to fight.
  • A third of the colored troops were lost during the war.
• The draft was eventually initiated during the war due to the dire need for more men.
  • Wealthy families could pay 300 dollars for someone else to fight for their son.
  • New York City became one of the biggest riots after the initiation of the draft. Black people of New York City were targeted during these riots.
  • There were draft riots in Detroit and Brooklyn, New York.

End of the War and Initial Reconstruction Efforts

• The Civil War officially ended on April 9, 1865, with the South's surrender.
• Even before the war's conclusion, the North began planning to punish the South.
• Special Field Order No. 15 (January 1865): Plantation land was to be divided and distributed among formerly enslaved people (the origin of the "40 acres" concept).
  • They also divided up land, but were paid to work as former slaves
• Some enslaved people were paid by the North to work in fields.
• Thirteenth Amendment (February 1865): Slavery was made illegal in the United States.
  • Confederate states had to pledge allegiance to the Constitution and the Thirteenth Amendment to be readmitted into the Union.
    • A key part of the Constitution that had to be pledged was the Thirteenth amendment to make slavery illegal.
  • There was a flag where we had to pledge allegiance, with one god, indivisible.

Freedmen’s Bureau (March 1865)

• Established to assist formerly enslaved people in their transition to freedom.
• Provided education, clothing, food, job placement, contract negotiation support, and medical care.
• Black illiteracy declined to 70% by 1880 and 30% by 1910 due to education from the Freedmen's Bureau.
  Illiteracy{1880} = 70\% Illiteracy{1910} = 30\%
• The Freedmen's Bureau women were key to the Bureau.
• The former slaves said they wanted to build their own schools and have their own teachers.
• Formerly enslaved people wanted to expand their communities.

Juneteenth (June 19, 1865)

• The war had ended in April of 1865. Union troops came down to the South and on June 19, they told people in Texas who were not yet aware that they had been freed for some time.
• Celebrates the day when news of emancipation reached enslaved people in Texas, marking their freedom.

Reconstruction

Southern Resistance

• The South resisted the changes brought about by Reconstruction, and they really wanted to stick with the permanent workforce they already had.
• Fourteenth Amendment: Granted citizenship.
  Amendment = Citizenship
• Fifteenth Amendment: Protected the right to vote.
  Amendment = Right\ to\ vote

Black Codes

• Southern states enacted Black Codes to circumvent federal laws and maintain white supremacy.
• Examples of Black Codes:
  • Grandfather Clause: If your grandfather did not vote, you could not vote.
  • Poll taxes: You had to pay annually in order to vote.
    • This made poor black people not able to vote.
  • Vagrancy laws: If you didn't have a job, you were a vagrant and would be put in jail.
  • Black people were often targeted with made-up crimes such as: "I can see that you're thinking about causing trouble".
• Black people were arrested and made to work on convict labor, often doing the same labor as before to try and rebuild the plantations they had escaped from.
• Ku Klux Klan (KKK): A white supremacist terrorist group that used violence and intimidation to suppress black rights.
  * If you complained, you would face a visit from the Ku Klux Klan.

Reconstruction Act

• The Reconstruction Act divided the South into five military districts controlled by the Union Army.
• The Northern Military controlled the politics, the money, and the voting in the South.
• Union troops controlled the states.
• The military intervention was insufficient to fully protect black rights due to the limited number of troops available.

Black Political Participation

• Despite facing threats and violence, many black men sought political office during Reconstruction.
• Mississippi and Missouri represent vastly different degrees of black representation. Mississippi had 226, while Missouri only had 1 during this post war period.
  • There were 683 people in the House of Representatives.

Federal Force Acts

• Federal Force Acts were passed in response to violence against black communities.
• The Acts authorized the federal government to intervene in the South to protect black rights and suppress white supremacist groups like the KKK.
• When black people were threatened, they went to a church, which then had a violent standoff.
• Federal black members went to Ulysses Grant, who had been elected president after Lincoln was assassinated.
• Ulysses Grant and Congress sent troops to help out and said that they would force the South to accept the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments.
• The goal was to enforce safety, security, and equality for black Americans in the South.
• The federal government stopped investing and spending money in the South to send troops because they felt like they had been punished enough.
• Jim Crow law and segregation started around 1875 and began to take over the South, meaning the creation of a permanent workforce for black Americans.